Tire-protector.



No. 786,097. PATENTED MAR. 28, 1905. N. CAMPBELL.

TIRE PROTECTOR.

APPLIUATION FILED Nov. 28, 1904.

Br 17 m ATTORNEYS UNITED STATES Patented March 28, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

TO BENJAMIN HAYHURST, OF ELIZABETHTOVN, OHIO.

TIRE-PROTECTOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 786,097, dated March28, 1905.

Application filed November 28, 1904:. Serial No. 234,529.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, NEWTON CAMPBELL, a citizen of the United States, anda resident of Elizabethtown, in the county of Hamilton and State ofOhio, have invented a new and Improved Tire-Protector, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

My invention relates to protective devices or armor for rubber tires,pneumatic, solid or partially solid, or such yielding or elastic tiresas are used upon automobiles and other road-vehicles.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a simple and readily-applieddevice constructed in sections, one having limited movement overtheother, which device when applied to a tire will completely cover andprotect it from puncture and direct wear without in any mannerdetracting from the elastic qualities of the tire.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combinations of theseveral parts, as will be hereinafter fully set forth, and pointed outin the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part ofthis specification, in which similar characters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a wheel having the improved protectorapplied. Fig. 2 is a transverse section through the protector, the tire,and the rim of the wheel, the section being taken practically on theline 2 2 of Fig.1; and Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of thesections of the protector.

A represents the hub of a wheel, B the spokes, and O the elastic oryielding tire, which may be of any known type. The protective device orarmor is preferably made of thin steel, brass, or aluminium and-consistsof any suitable number of sections D, arranged to overlap one another toa greater or lesser extent throughout the entire circumference of thetire O, one section being capable of slight movement upon the other. Thesections D are of like construction, and each section is made in threemembers namely, a tread member and two side memflanges 13 on the treadmember 10.

or segmental in cross-section and is of such dimensions and shape as tofit over the tread portion of the tire O and extend toward the hub A ofthe wheel at each side of the tire to a predetermined extent, as isshown best in Fig. 2. The tread member 10 is provided at eachlongitudinal edge with an outwardly-extending flange 13, said flangesbeing at right angles to the side faces of the said tread member, as isshown in Fig. 3.

Each side member 11 and 12 of a section D is preferably flat, as isshown in Fig. 3, but is of segmental form, and the straight edges 14 ofthe said side members are madeto face the corresponding side edges ofthe tread member 10. A flange 15 is formed at the straight edge 14. ofeach side member 11 and 12, which flanges extend outward at right anglesto said edges 14 and correspond to the Each side member 11 and 12 isalso provided at the central portion of its inner or curved edge with ancar 16, the ears being in the same plane with the body of the sidemembers, as is illustrated in Figs. 1 and 3. The ears 16 are providedwith apertures 17 and are wider than the spokes B of the wheel, thewidth of the ears 16 being such that when brought to an engagement witha spoke an aperture 17 will be at each side of the spoke, as is shown inFig. 1.

When the members of a section D are assembled, the side members 11 and12 are connected with the tread member 10 by bolts 18, loosely passedthrough apertures 20 in the flanges 13 and 15, said bolts being providedwith suitable nuts 19; but when a section D is placed upon the tire ofthe wheel there is always a space between the flanges 13 and 15, as isshown at 21 in the drawings, at which space the tire O is more or lessvisible. As stated,.when the sections D are in position upon the tire ofa wheel they overlap one another more or less at their ends, as is shownin Fig 1, and the ears 16 of each section will be in engagement withopposite sides of a spoke B of the wheel, and the sections D are held inposition on the Wheel by passing bers 11 and 12. The tread member isarched 1 bolts 22, provided with nuts 23, through the apertures 17 inthe lugs or ears 16, the bolts being then located at opposite sides ofthe spoke with which the lugs of a section may engage.

The flanges 13 and 15 of a section D do not meet until the weight of thevehicle is upon the section of which they form a part, and said weightcauses the tread member 10 of the section under pressure to springoutward with the compression of the tire, as the said tread member 10may slide freely on the connecting-bolts 18 as the wheel turns around.

Just as soon as a section D is relieved from the direct weight of thevehicle the tire naturally expands beneath the section and forces thetread member of said section out to its normal position, so that amachine equipped with the improved protector will have the same easymotion obtainable from a fully-exposed rubber tire, while at the sametime the tires of the machine are perfectly guarded against puncture,and as the wear is entirely upon the protectors for the tires thelifetime of tires thus equipped is indefinitely extended.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A protector for rubber tires, consisting ofindependent sections, each section comprising a tread member and sidemembers, the adjacent portions of the tread and side members beingnormally spaced apart when the section is in position on the tire, meansfor loosely connecting the tread member and side members of eachsection, the said connecting means permitting of the sliding movement ofthe tread member, and means for securing the sections to a wheel.

2. A protector for rubber tires, consisting of a series of independentsections arranged to overlap, each section comprising a tread member andside members, flanges formed upon the'tread and side members at theiropposing edges, bolts loosely connecting said flanges, and means forconnecting the side members of the sections to a wheel.

3. A protector for rubber tires, consisting of a series of independentsections overlapping at their ends, each section comprising a treadmember and side members, the side members being provided with-lugs attheir inner edges, opposing flanges located at the opposing edges of theside and the tread members of a section, and bolts loosely passedthrough opposing flanges, the lugs on the side members being aperturedto receive bolts, as set forth.

4. The combination with a wheel and a rubber tire thereon, of aprotector consisting of a series of independent sections covering thesaid tire and arranged to overlap, each section comprising a treadmember conforming to the tread-section of the tire, and opposing sidemembers, flanges located at the opposing edges of the side and the treadmembers of the sections, bolts loosely passed through opposing flanges,lugs extending from the inner edges of the side members of the sections,which lugs engage with the spokes of the wheel, and fastening devicespassed through the said lugs at opposite sides of the spokes, asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses. v

NEWTON CAMPBELL.

WVitnesses:

ZELLIE M. J oI-INs'roN, IsABEL BROGAN.

